74th week in Japan
1/9/2017
神様は私たちをご存知です (God knows us)

Dear Family and Friends,

It is great to tell each one of you about the many experiences that I
have had in Japan. I have learned many things on my mission. I have
really come to appreciate the restoration of the gospel of Jesus
Christ and also God's plan for us. I have many experiences that
testify of the truth that God does exist and that he is watching over
us. I also know this is true because of the teachings we find in the
Book of Mormon.

Lately I have been reading from the beginning of 2 Nephi. Lehi and his
family traveled through the wilderness for many years and finally made
it to the promised land. In the beginning of 2 Nephi Lehi has become
very old and is about to pass away. Before doing so he counsels and
blesses his children. In chapter 2 Lehi teaches his son Jacob. Jacob,
from the very beginning of his life, was born in the wilderness. Jacob
was born in the midst of many afflictions and sorrows. However,
amongst all this, he remained righteousness, and he "spent his days in
the service of his God," (2 Nephi 2:3). Jacob was born in the
wilderness because God knew Jacob and he knew what he could handle.
God will never give us a commandment that we cannot accomplish. He
will never put us through a trial that we cannot overcome.

Nephi also experienced many hardships in the wilderness with his
family and his elder brothers. They beat him, tied him up multiple
times, and mocked him for trying to keep the commandments of God.
However, God knew that Nephi could handle it. One of the things that
makes Nephi one of my greatest heroes is his reaction to all of these
trials. He says, "Nevertheless, I did look unto my God, and I did
praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord
because of mine afflictions." (1 Nephi 18:16). God knew Nephi. He knew
that it wouldn't be easy for Nephi to do what he did, but he knew that
he could do it.

I know that God knows each one of us. We all have trials in this life.
We will all experience hardships, guilt, regret, and sorrows at one
point or another in our lives. It is in these times of hardships that
we must reach out to grab the hands of the Savior. God knows that we
can make it through because his only begotten son, his perfect son did
so first. Through our Savior, Jesus Christ we can be lifted from our
burdens and find joy even in our afflictions. I testify of these
things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Ponderizing scripture: 1 Nephi 18:16

Questions:

Tell us a little about Elder Zollinger.  What is he like?  Does he like to cook? Does he play a musical instrument or like to sing? What is parkour?

1. He is awesome! He has the faith to move mountains. He does like
cooking but he doesn't do it often. He doesn't play an instrument or
particularly like singing. Parkour is like free running. It is trying
to get from one point to another really fast and you do tricks. For
example people climb walls and do backflips off of cliffs and stuff
like that.

 When do you have your next zone meetings? Zone training meetings?

2. We have Mission Leadership Conference today and another thing on Friday.

 Have you been sightseeing lately on any of your P-days?

3. No we haven't had much time. We actually have to leave early today
to go to Kobe.

How are you doing with your new goals?

4. I am doing good. I still need to make a lot of new ones, but one of
them is to be 100% obedient.

Do you know if they have enough snow anywhere in Japan for skiing or sledding?

5. Yes they do up north. It snows a ton.

What are the sisters like in your area?  Do they have different things they do than the elders?

6. There aren't actually sisters in my area. They don't do much
different, but they teach more women than men and the elders teach
more men than women.

Do the people there make goals or do anything different for the New Year?

7. They have fun celebrations and eat lots of weird Japanese food.
Some of it isn't the greatest, but it is a fun time of year.

I love you all. Have a great week and always remember that God knows
and loves you.

Elder Justice Hirschi